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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27542365">comfort food</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/amsves/pseuds/amsves'>amsves</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Log Horizon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Comfortember, Cooking, Curry, Fluff, Gen, because it's log horizon and we all know shiroe loves curry</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 17:02:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,689</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27542365</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/amsves/pseuds/amsves</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Mew seem more stressed than usual, Shiroechi.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Comfortember 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>comfort food</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Ok so the prompt for day 13 of Comfortember is 'baking' ... but I went with cooking. Oops!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">“Mew seem more stressed than usual, Shiroechi.”</p>
<p class="p1">Shiroe glanced up from the pile of paperwork he had been staring at intently. Nyanta stood in the doorway, with his usual amused expression. “Hey, Captain. What brings you to my office? Done with the grocery shopping already?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Indeed. As for why I’m here instead of working in the kitchen,” Nyanta placed a finger thoughtfully on his chin, “Let’s just say I had a hunch mew were working yourself too hard, as usual.”</p>
<p class="p1">Shiroe laughed nervously. “Oh, well. You know me.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Mm. So, I was thinking I’d make curry for dinner tonight. That seems to be the only thing that’ll tear mew away from your desk.”</p>
<p class="p1">Shiroe’s mouth watered at the mere <em>mention </em>of Nyanta’s curry. Potatoes, meat, vegetables, rice …</p>
<p class="p1">He was so lost in the idea of eating that <em>masterpiece</em> that the first half of Nyanta’s next sentence didn’t register. “…if mew don’t mind.”</p>
<p class="p1">Shiroe blinked. “Sorry, can you say that again? I was—”</p>
<p class="p1">“Off somewhere in your own head again,” Nyanta finished. “It’s alright, Shiroechi. I understand you’re a busy man, protecting the city and all that. But this old man really could use your help today.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Uh, sure.” Shiroe mentally noted where he had stopped reading on the top sheet of parchment before pushing himself out of his chair. He took a moment to stretch, standing on his tiptoes and reaching for the ceiling, before following Nyanta out of the room and down the hall to the kitchen. “So, how exactly am I helping you? I don’t have a chef subclass.”</p>
<p class="p1">“True, but mew know there’s at least one way around that.” Nyanta tossed something at Shiroe. He caught it and took a moment to study it. It was fabric, that much was for sure, and ruffled, and pink—</p>
<p class="p1">“Is this the Newlywed’s Apron Dress?”</p>
<p class="p1">“It might be.” It was phrased as an uncertainty, but Nyanta’s teasing tone left no room for questions.</p>
<p class="p1">Shiroe dropped the offending item. “Captain, I’m not wearing a dress.”</p>
<p class="p1">Nyanta chuckled and scooped the item back up. “Just teasing. I have the male version too, you can wear that.”</p>
<p class="p1">The next item thrown at Shiroe was still ruffled, but solidly white instead of pink. He took off his cloak before pulling the apron over his head and fastening the ties at the back. Then, he pushed up his sleeves. “Alright, this is better. Now, how do I cook?”</p>
<p class="p1">“First, mew need to wash your hands.”</p>
<p class="p1">Shiroe nodded and did just that. “Okay, now what?”</p>
<p class="p1">“I’m putting you in charge of peeling the potatoes and carrots.” Nyanta passed Shiroe a knife and the vegetables in question. “When you’re done with them, just pass them over to me, and I’ll cut them up.”</p>
<p class="p1">Peeling potatoes seemed like it would be easy enough—why else would Nyanta entrust Shiroe with that responsibility?—but it soon proved to be the opposite. It was hard to get a good grip on the potato far away enough from the knife blade that there was actually anything to peel. And when Shiroe had finally struggled through one half, he had to hold the peeled, slippery end to finish the rest of the potato. After over five minutes of struggling, Shiroe only had one potato to pass to Nyanta. “Here.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Thank mew.” Nyanta took the potato and chopped it into small chunks. Shiroe noticed he had also been preparing the meat, which looked like pork.</p>
<p class="p1">“You’re really good at this,” he observed as he got started on the second potato.</p>
<p class="p1">“Well, I am a level 90 chef.”</p>
<p class="p1">“You know what I mean.” The potato slipped forward out of Shiroe’s grip and bounced off the wall in front of him. He took a deep breath before retrieving it, rinsing it off, and starting again. “This apron gave me level 40 chef subclass, but I can barely do this. There’s gotta be more to it than just levels, y’know?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Mmm, I do dabble in the culinary arts in real life.”</p>
<p class="p1">“You do?” Shiroe finished his second potato. This one had only taken half the time of the first.</p>
<p class="p1">“Well, sure. I have to eat.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Yeah …” Shiroe thought back to his dim apartment filled with instant noodles and energy gel packets. He had definitely started eating better since the Catastrophe. After the discovery of good-tasting food, anyways.</p>
<p class="p1">They finished the rest of the potatoes in comfortable silence, each enjoying the work in front of him. To Shiroe’s delight, he soon mastered the art of peeling potatoes, and the carrots went much more quickly.</p>
<p class="p1">When that was all done, Nyanta gave him a contented look. “Well, I certainly thank mew for all your help, Shiroechi. And I’ll understand if mew need to get back to your desk now.”</p>
<p class="p1">Shiroe reached for the ties on his apron … and stopped. “No, actually, I think I can keep helping. If you want me here, that is.”</p>
<p class="p1"><em>What am I saying? </em>Shiroe thought to himself as Nyanta handed him a few apples to grate. <em>I really should be getting back. </em></p>
<p class="p1"><em>But I’m enjoying myself too much</em>.</p>
<p class="p1">Elder Tale didn’t have a grater item, so Shiroe used his knife to chop the apple into the smallest possible pieces he could manage. Admittedly, they were still way too big, and Nyanta had to further refine them. But he thought he did a pretty good job.</p>
<p class="p1">The heat of the kitchen was making him sweat. But it was a good sweat, like the kind one got after working hard and achieving a goal.</p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>Is this why people like cooking? </em>
</p>
<p class="p1">Nyanta had prepared the rest of the curry ingredients while Shiroe had been focused on his basic tasks, and the dish was actually pretty close to completion. While it simmered away in a pot over the fire, Shiroe and Nyanta got to work cleaning.</p>
<p class="p1">“Mew can take the apron off now, Shiroechi,” Nyanta said. “Mew look pretty warm.”</p>
<p class="p1">Shiroe did remove the apron that time, and felt a wave of coolness rush over him. He wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sweater sleeve. “Whew. Is it always this warm in here?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Mewsually.” Nyanta took the apron and tucked it away somewhere. “And the hot water used to clean doesn’t help. Here, take this rag and wipe down the place on the counter where mew were doing all that chopping.”</p>
<p class="p1">The curry and the cleaning finished at almost the exact same time. Shiroe watched as Nyanta plated the curry and rice nine times, and then the two took a few trips to move all the food to the dining room.</p>
<p class="p1">The effect was instantaneous. Just by carrying the curry out of the kitchen, its aroma permeated the air of the guild hall. Naotsugu was the first to wander in, with Touya right behind. The whole guild gathered in less than two minutes, without anyone even calling them down.</p>
<p class="p1">“That’s the power of curry, I guess,” Shiroe mumbled under his breath as he took his own plate and sat down to eat. “Let’s dig in.”</p>
<p class="p1">Nine Adventurers all took their first bite at the same time, and all nine let out a contented sigh. “<em>Delicious</em> …”</p>
<p class="p1">“It’s very tasty, Master Nyanta, but it’s a little different than usual,” Minori remarked, after they had taken a few more bites. “Did you change the recipe?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Well, I had a little help today, from someone who isn’t mewsually a chef. But I think Shiroechi did a marvelous job.”</p>
<p class="p1">Everyone else at the table, besides Nyanta, turned to look at Shiroe. He wilted under the pressure of so many stares. “…what?”</p>
<p class="p1">“My Lord, you cooked this amazing dish?” Akatsuki’s voice was unusually reverent.</p>
<p class="p1">“Well, cooked is a strong word—”</p>
<p class="p1">Naotsugu punched the air in excitement. “Heck yeah! Now we have two curry masters in the guild! Everyone in Akiba’s gonna be busting down our doors trying to get a taste.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Or a membership, even,” Tetora suggested. “I mean, this is really to die for.”</p>
<p class="p1">“All I did was chop stuff—”</p>
<p class="p1">“Take credit when it’s due, Shiroechi.” Nyanta’s calm voice cut through the pandemonium at the table. “Mew were a great help, and a great companion.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Hey, while y’all were talking, I finished my helping,” Isuzu interjected. “Is there any more?”</p>
<p class="p1">The sudden realization that they had stopped eating in order to talk struck the rest of the guild, and everyone but Isuzu resumed shoveling food into their mouths. When she returned from the kitchen with a second helping, she joined back in.</p>
<p class="p1">At last, the food was completely finished. And as usual, there were no leftovers after everyone ate their fill of Nyanta’s (and Shiroe’s) cooking. Shiroe leaned back in his chair with a sigh. “Amazing as always, Captain. But I have to ask. You didn’t really need my help, did you?”</p>
<p class="p1">“Mew think this was all a ploy to get you out of your room for a few hours?” Nyanta had a mischievous twinkle in his eye that told Shiroe he was right on the money. “Purrhaps.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Well, I’m glad you did. Though, now I have even <em>more </em>paperwork to get through tonight.” The thought of staying up later than usual made him deflate. <em>All good things come with a price. </em></p>
<p class="p1">“Well, actually,” Minori spoke up, “I snuck into your room and did some of it. Not a lot, just the things I knew I could do. And there’s still a ton of documents waiting for your signature. But I hope I helped!”</p>
<p class="p1">“I’m sure you did,” Shiroe assured her, touched. “Thank you.” He stood. “I guess I’ll go review that now.”</p>
<p class="p1">Akatsuki stood up as well, and brandished a <em>kunai</em>. “You get one hour, and then you’re stopping for the night.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Okay, okay!” Shiroe held his hands up in innocence. “I’ll work fast.” He smiled at the ten guild members around him. “Thank you all.”</p>
<p class="p1">Rudy scrunched his face in confusion. “What for? You’re the one who made us something delicious.”</p>
<p class="p1">“Yeah, but … never mind.” Shiroe shook his head and left the room, with Akatsuki in tow. <em>Saying something like </em><span class="u"><span class="s1"><em>thanks for believing in me</em></span></span><em> would be too corny. </em></p>
<p class="p1">
  <em>But it was really nice, all the same. </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Find me and request bingo squares on Tumblr (I’m @therewillbebeauty)! I'm playing both Fluff Bingo and Bad Things Happen Bingo, AND I'm still accepting prompts for Comfortember, so I can either torture or pamper your fave--or both!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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